Valsugana Italy

The Valsugana valley is one of the most important valleys in the autonomous province of Trento (also called Trentino) of Northern Italy. Leading into the Alps' foothills, an important main north-south Roman road, the Via Claudia Augusta, one of Europe's main roads since its construction in Antiquity, winds along the valley and connects the Adriatic with the historic Holy Roman Empire and Frankish kingdom's centre of Augsburg.

The sturdy construction of this long-distance road running through the valley has made it historically one of the most important north-south European transit lanes because the route from the Veneto region to points near and beyond the famed Brenner pass is significantly shorter than proceeding Venice to Verona to Brenner. Henry II used the road to bypass a position blocked by a rival allowing him to gain the throne of the Holy Roman Empire.

Fotografico di Franzi Vitlacil

photos courtesy Luca Girotto

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The geography of the area is unusual. Two lakes, Caldonazzo and Levico, are separated by a long narrow ridge known as the Tenna. Coming from Trento you first see the larger Lake Caldonazzo surrounded by gentle slopes with wide roads along its shores...

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You can go rowing, sailing and swimming in the lakes, walking and jogging on the footpaths or hire a mountain bike. Winter in Valsugana means skiing, thanks to the ski trails of Panarotta.

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Valsugana begins a few kilometres east of Trento and is the doorway to a real ‘Middle Earth’. A fertile plateau dotted with vineyards and in the distance high mountains, snow-covered all year round.